Infiniti Q50 Brings the Power…and Elegance

For obvious reasons, a liquor distillery is an odd place for a rest stop during a test drive. Nevertheless, that was one of our designated stops on a recent Infiniti Q50 test drive in Nashville, Tenn.

In case you’ve never been on a distillery tour, the way it works is they show you around the facility, explain how they make their potent concoctions, offer you lots of samples, and then lead you to the gift shop so you can buy some to take home. If all goes well, you’ve discovered a new favorite spirit and they’ve secured a new customer for life. In this particular case, the place was Leiper’s Fork Distilleryand the spirit was Hunter’s Select Barrel Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey.

Even though we didn’t get a chance to sample the liquor for obvious reasons, we got a good sense of history at the distillery, which definitely gave me a bit of perspective on the new Infiniti. Take, for example, the 2018 Infiniti Q50. There was definitely something about the rustic charm of the distillery that made the smooth lines of the Q50 stand out that much more. Not to mention the fact that Nashville is rich with history, not unlike the Infiniti brand.

[This history of excellence could, in part, explain why Infiniti USA sales are up by 22% for 2017 already. Of course, the other part of that equation is the public’s love for the cars themselves.]

Prince Motor Company is considered to be Japan’s original builder of premium automobiles and its legacy can be traced all the way down to Infiniti and its current model line. This history of excellence could, in part, explain why Infiniti USA sales are up by 22% for 2017 already. Of course, the other part of that equation is the public’s love for the cars themselves.

First introduced in 2014, the 2018 Q50 is the third iteration of Infiniti’s popular luxury sedan. One of the phrases that Infiniti uses to describe the Q50 is “powerful elegance,” and I found this descriptor accurate as we put the Q50 through its paces around Nashville.

Additional power came via the drive mode selector, which offered a number of options from Eco to Sport +. There is even an option that “allows drivers to create unique settings for engine, suspension, and steering.” Talk about making a car your own.

Also of note was a significant suite of safety features like Intelligent Cruise Control and Direct Adaptive Steering. The Q50 also offers a forward collision warning and, believe it or not, a camera that is supposed to “see” around the car in front of you to help avoid potential collisions. We didn’t drive aggressively enough to trigger this omniscient radar, but we did experience the forward collision system when a car in front of us braked suddenly. The Q50 both warned us audibly and applied extra power to the brakes to keep us out of harm’s way—and not a drop of the whiskey we had stashed in the Q50’s spacious trunk was compromised.